1 Generation Y's View on Household Division of Labor Rachel Moore Aca

20 Pages·2014·0.15 MB·English

1

Generation
 Y’s
 View
 on
 Household
 Division
 of
 Labor

Rachel
 Moore

Academic
 Distinction
 Paper

Southeast
 Missouri
 State
 University

Human
 Environmental
 Studies
 Department

April,
 2014
2

Abstract

This
 purpose
 of
 this
 research
 study
 was
 to
 determine
 the
 preferences

(egalitarian
 or
 traditional)
 for
 the
 division
 of
 household
 labor
 of
 Generation
 Y.

 A

small
 sample
 of
 100
 Southeast
 Missouri
 State
 University
 undergraduate
 students

was
 surveyed.

 Results
 reveal
 that
 Generation
 Y
 prefer
 to
 have
 similar
 division
 of

household
 labor
 patterns
 to
 what
 their
 parents’
 modeled
 for
 them
 which
 was
 more

traditional.
 Females
 preferred
 slightly
 more
 egalitarian
 than
 did
 males.
3

 Literature
 Review

  Over
 the
 last
 century
 women
 have
 increasingly
 transitioned
 from
 being

homemakers
 to
 working
 outside
 the
 home.

 In
 1900,
 only
 18%
 of
 women
 ages
 16

and
 over
 were
 in
 the
 workforce
 (Pearson
 Education,
 2007)
 Today,
 roughly
 59%
 of

women
 over
 the
 age
 of
 16
 are
 in
 the
 workforce
 (U.S
 Department
 of
 Labor,
 2010).

However,
 as
 women
 increase
 their
 time
 working
 outside
 the
 home,
 the
 equitable

divisions
 of
 household
 tasks
 have
 lagged.

 Men
 are
 taking
 on
 a
 larger
 share
 of
 the

household
 tasks
 and
 there
 is
 a
 trend
 towards
 more
 egalitarian
 homes
 across

generations.

 Many
 Generation
 Y’s
 (born
 in
 early
 1980’s
 to
 2000’s)
 grew
 up
 with

dual
 earner
 parents
 who
 modeled
 gender
 roles
 pertaining
 to
 the
 completion
 of

household
 tasks.

 The
 purpose
 of
 this
 study
 is
 to
 investigate
 the
 perceptions
 and

expectations
 of
 Generation
 Y
 concerning
 the
 division
 of
 household
 tasks.

Gender
 Roles

  The
 term
 “gender
 roles”
 has
 become
 a
 very
 common
 topic
 among
 our
 society.

According
 to
 Olson,
 DeFrain
 and
 Skogrand
 (2011),
 gender
 roles
 are
 defined
 as

society’s
 expectations
 about
 an
 individual’s
 actions
 and
 attitudes
 based
 solely
 on

whether
 you
 are
 male
 or
 female.

 With
 these
 concrete
 ideals
 on
 how
 men
 and

women
 should
 be,
 it
 can
 be
 hard
 for
 a
 person
 to
 break
 away
 from
 the
 norm.
 Our

culture
 tends
 to
 pair
 males
 with
 masculinity
 and
 females
 with
 femininity,
 but
 that

doesn’t
 mean
 that
 they
 automatically
 coincide
 with
 each
 other
 (Coltrane
 &
 Adams,

2008).
 These
 gender
 stereotypes
 are
 often
 boldly
 reflected
 in
 our
 media.
 Shows
 like

Desperate
 Housewives
 and
 My
 Wife
 and
 Kids
 tend
 to
 carry
 much
 more
 significance

than
 society
 may
 realize
 (Coltrane
 and
 Adams,
 2008).
 Not
 only
 do
 we
 see
 these
4

gender
 roles
 on
 television,
 but
 our
 peers
 and
 parents
 generally
 reflect
 them
 as
 well.

Schneider
 &
 Waite
 (2005)
 believe
 that
 mothers
 who
 transmit
 their
 attitudes

regarding
 equal
 gender
 roles
 to
 their
 children
 will
 grow
 up
 with
 a
 more

contemporary
 view
 on
 the
 division
 of
 household
 labor.
 They
 also
 concluded
 that
 if
 a

father
 participates
 in
 more
 feminine
 housework,
 children
 grow
 up
 with
 more

egalitarian
 expectations.

  Egalitarian
 families
 are
 striving
 to
 break
 the
 gender
 stereotypes
 of
 male

dominance
 and
 move
 towards
 equality
 for
 both
 male
 and
 females
 (Olson,
 DeFrain
 &

Skogrand,
 2011).
 However,
 there
 is
 still
 quite
 a
 bit
 of

 unceratianty
 on
 how
 equal
 the

workload
 actually
 is
 between
 males
 and
 females.
 Families
 in
 which
 both
 spouses

work
 outside
 the
 home
 have
 already
 broken
 out
 of
 the
 traditional
 family
 façade,
 but

on
 the
 spectrum
 of
 traditionalism
 to
 egalitarianism,
 they
 could
 be
 anywhere
 in

between.
 In
 a
 stereotypical
 traditional
 family,
 the
 husband
 is
 the
 breadwinning

leader
 of
 the
 family,
 while
 the
 mother
 stays
 home
 taking
 care
 of
 the
 children
 and
 the

housework
 (Olson,
 DeFrain
 &
 Skogrand,
 2011).
 Therefore,
 families
 that
 have
 two

working
 parents
 are
 not
 technically
 a
 “traditional”
 family;
 however,
 they
 could
 be

nowhere
 near
 egalitarian.

Feminist
 Movement

 When
 the
 industrial
 revolution
 began
 in
 the
 late
 1800’s,
 farmers
 began
 to

leave
 the
 home
 to
 look
 for
 work
 in
 factories.
 Towards
 the
 early
 1900’s
 a
 majority
 of

the
 women
 in
 the
 workforce
 were
 unmarried,
 and
 a
 very
 small
 percentage
 of
 them

were
 white.

 By
 the
 1920’s
 only
 seven
 percent
 of
 married
 European
 American

women
 were
 working,
 compared
 to
 the
 one
 third
 of
 married
 African
 American
5

women
 (Padavic
 &
 Reskin,
 2002).
 This
 shift
 in
 the
 economy
 began
 shaping
 these

separate
 worlds
 between
 women
 and
 men.
 Women
 were
 seen
 as
 too
 fragile
 and

pure
 for
 the
 industrial
 workforce
 and
 men
 were
 supposed
 to
 provide
 for
 their

childbearing
 wives
 (Adams
 &
 Coltrane,
 2008).
 This
 stereotype
 could
 no
 longer
 be

held
 by
 the
 late
 1960’s
 and
 early
 1970’s.

 According
 to
 Schnittker
 (2007)
 in
 the
 early

1970’s
 into
 the
 1980’s,
 American’s
 saw
 a
 great
 increase
 in
 women
 attending
 college.

With
 their
 college
 degrees,
 women
 were
 able
 to
 obtain,
 and
 hold,
 more
 steady
 and

higher
 paying
 jobs.
 Not
 only
 were
 feminists
 yearning
 for
 this
 power,
 but
 it
 was
 also

necessary
 economically
 for
 women
 in
 the
 70’s
 and
 80’s
 to
 work.

In
 today’s
 society,
 it
 is
 more
 common
 than
 not
 that
 wives
 who
 work
 outside

of
 the
 home
 are
 doing
 so
 because
 it
 is
 a
 necessity
 rather
 than
 an
 option
 (Adams
 &

Coltrane,
 2008).

 Dual-­‐earner
 families
 are
 becoming
 more
 and
 more
 common
 with

our
 economy.
 Ever
 since
 the
 first
 wave
 of
 feminists,
 women
 claimed
 that
 they
 could

be
 a
 mother,
 housewife,
 activist,
 and
 hold
 a
 full-­‐time
 job
 (Flexner,
 1976).
 There
 are

no
 longer
 these
 nation-­‐wide
 boundaries
 that
 say
 wives
 should
 stay
 home
 and
 be
 the

homemaker,
 while
 the
 husband
 works
 outside
 of
 the
 home
 to
 be
 the
 breadwinner.

By
 the
 early
 1970’s,
 the
 second
 wave
 of
 feminists
 had
 begun.
 They
 did
 not
 agree

with
 the
 gender
 roles
 that
 were
 implied
 along
 with
 the
 traditional
 family
 (Coltrane

&
 Adams,
 2008).

Consequences
 of
 Women
 in
 the
 Workforce

  Due
 to
 the
 increase
 of
 women
 in
 the
 workforce,
 fewer
 women
 can
 devote

their
 entire
 day
 to
 be
 a
 stay-­‐at-­‐home
 mom.
 Naturally,
 you
 would
 think
 that

husbands
 would
 help
 pick
 up
 some
 of
 the
 slack
 when
 it
 comes
 to
 the
 household
6

chores
 and
 childcare.
 However,
 it
 has
 been
 researched
 that
 in
 comparison
 to
 wives’

increase
 in
 the
 workforce,
 husbands’
 increased
 participation
 in
 household
 work
 is

not
 comparable
 (Schneider
 &
 Waite,
 2005).
 This
 is
 how
 the
 term
 second-­‐shift
 came

about.
 Women,
 regardless
 of
 their
 employment,
 are
 expected
 to
 remain
 the
 primary

caretakers
 of
 the
 home
 even
 after
 a
 long
 day
 at
 work
 (Sinno
 &
 Killen,
 2011).
 While

some
 dual-­‐earner
 couples
 are
 moving
 towards
 equality,
 others
 are
 stuck
 in
 the

traditional
 division
 of
 household
 labor
 regardless
 if
 both
 spouses
 are
 working
 or

not.

It
 has
 been
 found
 that
 when
 a
 husband
 and
 wife
 are
 asked
 to
 estimate
 just

exactly
 how
 much
 time
 the
 husband
 spends
 on
 housework,
 women
 often
 estimate

pretty
 accurately.
 Men,
 on
 the
 other
 hand,
 tend
 to
 over-­‐estimate
 the
 amount
 of
 time

they
 spend
 helping
 around
 the
 house
 (Lee
 &
 Waite,
 2005).
 This
 could
 easily
 lead
 to

disagreement
 about
 the
 balance
 of
 a
 family’s
 division
 of
 household
 labor.
 It
 has
 also

been
 noted
 that
 adding
 children
 to
 the
 mix
 creates
 an
 even
 larger
 imbalance
 (Meier,

McNaughton-­‐Cassill,
 &
 Lynch,
 2006).
 Men
 and
 women
 seem
 unable
 to
 come
 to
 a

common
 ground
 or
 understanding
 when
 it
 comes
 down
 to
 who
 is
 going
 to
 do
 the

dishes,
 take
 care
 of
 children,
 and
 do
 laundry,
 versus
 who
 will
 mow
 the
 yard,
 clean

out
 the
 gutters,
 and
 take
 care
 of
 the
 leaky
 faucet.

Division
 of
 Household
 Tasks
 and
 Relationship
 Satisfaction

Traditional
 gender
 roles
 perceive
 household
 tasks
 as
 “women’s
 work”
 and

even
 with
 a
 wife
 who
 is
 employed
 full-­‐time,
 there
 most
 likely
 will
 not
 be
 as
 much

male
 participation
 in
 household
 duties
 as
 expected
 (Treas
 &
 Drobnic,
 2010).

Egalitarian
 roles
 strive
 to
 cut
 out
 the
 gender
 norms
 and
 work
 on
 making
 things
7

equal
 around
 the
 house.
 Dew
 and
 Wilcox
 (2011)
 found
 women
 who
 saw
 working,

and
 being
 primarily
 responsible
 for
 childcare
 and
 household
 work
 as
 unfair

reported
 a
 decline
 in
 their
 marital
 satisfaction.
 Couples
 who
 are
 considered
 “happy”

on
 a
 nation-­‐wide
 survey
 of
 50,000
 married
 couples
 agreed
 that
 they
 are
 both

equally
 willing
 to
 adjust,
 they
 both
 find
 that
 they
 work
 hard
 at
 having
 a
 fair

relationship,
 and
 that
 they
 are
 both
 happy
 with
 their
 agreement
 on
 the
 division
 of

household
 tasks
 based
 on
 their
 preferences
 and
 not
 based
 on
 gender
 role

stereotypes
 (Olson,
 DeFrain
 &
 Skogrand,
 2011).

Furthermore,
 little
 research
 has
 been
 done
 on
 what
 exactly
 shapes
 a
 person’s

ideals
 about
 division
 of
 household
 labor.
 According
 to
 Cunningham
 (2001),
 children

who
 are
 raised
 in
 a
 dual
 earner
 family
 tend
 to
 embrace
 egalitarian
 views
 and

behaviors
 into
 adulthood,
 and
 in
 their
 own
 relationships.

 But
 there
 are
 also

children
 who
 were
 brought
 up
 in
 a
 traditional
 household
 and
 still
 embrace
 an

egalitarian
 lifestyle.
 Schneider
 and
 Waite
 (2005)
 have
 found
 that
 when
 a
 father

models
 an
 egalitarian
 role
 by
 doing
 his
 “share”
 of
 the
 housework,
 children
 are
 more

likely
 to
 express
 the
 same
 kind
 of
 attitude
 towards
 egalitarianism.
 Coincidentally,

the
 amount
 of
 time
 a
 mother
 devotes
 to
 housework
 has
 very
 little
 effect
 on

children’s
 attitudes
 towards
 the
 division
 of
 household
 labor.
 Clearly,
 the
 father’s

willingness
 to
 work
 inside
 the
 home,
 as
 well
 as
 outside,
 plays
 a
 big
 role
 in
 children’s

attitudes
 towards
 housework.

Generation
 Y

  Generation
 Y
 has
 been
 noted
 to
 be
 more
 open-­‐minded
 than
 previous

generations.
 With
 that
 being
 said,
 Generation
 Y
 also
 has
 a
 long
 and
 hard
 future
8

possibly
 ahead
 of
 them.
 When
 surveyed,
 it
 has
 been
 found
 that
 75%
 of
 Generation
 Y

finds
 wealth
 important
 to
 them,
 in
 comparison
 the
 70%
 of
 Generation
 X
 and
 the

45%
 of
 Baby
 Boomers
 (Wikipedia,
 2013).
 This
 generation
 has
 been
 nicknamed
 the

“Boomerang”
 or
 the
 “Peter
 Pan”
 generation
 due
 to
 either
 returning
 home
 after

college,
 or
 never
 leaving
 in
 the
 first
 place.
 With
 the
 cost
 of
 living
 and
 housing

skyrocketing
 and
 the
 availability
 of
 career
 positions
 that
 offer
 decent
 pay

plummeting,
 Generation
 Y
 sometimes
 has
 no
 choice
 but
 to
 move
 back
 in,
 or
 continue

living
 with
 their
 parents.

Many
 people
 of
 this
 generation
 intend
 on
 marrying,
 they
 just
 do
 not
 want
 to

necessarily
 follow
 directly
 in
 their
 parents’
 footsteps.
 Two
 recent
 studies
 surveying

undergraduate
 students
 of
 the
 Y
 Generation
 found
 that
 30%
 of
 females
 reported
 a

preference
 for
 marrying
 a
 traditional
 male
 who
 saw
 his
 role
 as
 a
 provider
 and
 who

was
 supportive
 of
 his
 wife
 staying
 at
 home
 to
 raise
 children
 (Abowits
 et
 al.,
 2011).

Knox
 and
 Zusman
 (2007)
 surveyed
 undergraduate
 men
 and
 31%
 of
 them
 preferred

a
 traditional
 wife.
 The
 undergraduates
 who
 wish
 to
 live
 out
 the
 “American
 dream”
 of

the
 traditional
 family
 life
 may
 find
 that
 finances
 don’t
 come
 as
 easily
 as
 they
 used
 to.

Our
 poor
 economy
 is
 pushing
 families
 to
 have
 almost
 no
 other
 option
 but
 for
 both

spouses
 to
 venture
 out
 into
 the
 workforce
 which
 in
 turn,
 creates
 the
 question
 of,

who
 does
 the
 housework?

  This
 quantitative
 study
 will
 investigate
 the
 perceptions
 and
 expectations
 of

Generation
 Y
 undergraduate
 college
 students
 concerning
 the
 division
 of
 household

tasks.

 There
 are
 four
 research
 questions
 for
 this
 study.
9

1.
 What
 percentage
 of
 Generation
 Y’s
 parents
 modeled
 egalitarian
 roles
 versus

traditional
 roles?

2.
 What
 are
 the
 expectations
 concerning
 division
 of
 household
 tasks
 for
 Generation

Y?

3.
 Is
 there
 a
 significant
 positive
 relationship
 between
 parent’s
 modeling
 and

Generation
 Y’s
 own
 expectations
 for
 division
 of
 household
 labor?

4.
 Is
 there
 a
 significant
 difference
 between
 males
 and
 females
 regarding
 their
 future

expectations
 for
 the
 division
 of
 household
 tasks?

Methods

  For
 this
 research
 paper,
 data
 was
 collected
 quantitatively
 through
 a
 short

survey
 administered
 to
 volunteering
 participants
 on
 the
 campus
 of
 Southeast

Missouri
 State
 University.
 The
 survey
 was
 submitted
 to
 the
 Human
 Subjects

Committee
 for
 the
 College
 of
 Health
 and
 Human
 Services
 and
 was
 approved.
 The

researcher
 approached
 college
 students
 on
 campus
 asking
 them
 to
 volunteer
 to

complete
 a
 short
 survey.

 The
 researcher
 solicited
 subjects
 at
 two
 locations
 on

campus:

 the
 campus
 University
 Center
 and
 the
 Subway
 located
 in
 the
 Scully

Building
 on
 the
 opposite
 side
 of
 the
 campus.
 One
 hundred
 undergraduate
 college

students
 on
 the
 Southeast
 Missouri
 State
 university
 campus
 completed
 the
 survey.

In
 regards
 to
 selection
 bias
 there
 didn’t
 appear
 to
 be
 any
 patterns
 regarding

who
 volunteered
 and
 who
 did
 not.

 When
 surveying,
 people
 were
 selected
 at

random
 to
 volunteer.
 Groups
 of
 people
 were
 approached
 as
 well
 as
 people
 sitting
 by

themselves.
 Of
 the
 few
 people
 who
 did
 not
 volunteer
 to
 complete
 the
 survey;
 they
10

were
 mostly
 people
 who
 were
 sitting
 alone
 already
 involved
 in
 something
 else.

Overall,
 all
 members
 of
 any
 particular
 group
 participated
 in
 the
 survey.

  Once
 the
 data
 was
 collected,
 it
 was
 entered
 into
 the
 Statistical
 Package
 for
 the

Social
 Sciences
 (SPSS)
 version
 21.

 In
 cleaning
 the
 data,
 there
 were
 no
 incomplete

surveys.
 There
 were
 only
 four
 missing
 data
 points
 and
 they
 were
 missing
 at
 random.

Using
 the
 mean
 substitution
 method,
 the
 missing
 data
 point
 was
 replaced
 with
 the

average
 score
 for
 each
 variable.

Sample

  The
 sample
 was
 comprised
 of
 55%
 females
 and
 45%
 males.
 Their
 ages

ranged
 from
 18-­‐31
 with
 a
 mean
 age
 of
 20.3
 (S.D.
 2.2).

 A
 majority
 of
 the
 sample
 was

Caucasian
 (75%)
 followed
 by
 African
 American
 (14%)
 and
 Asians
 (8%),
 the

remaining
 3%
 reported
 being
 “other”.
 Out
 of
 the
 sample,
 91%
 reported
 they
 were

from
 a
 middle
 class
 family
 growing
 up,
 while
 5%
 said
 they
 were
 from
 a
 low
 class

household.

 Only
 4%
 reported
 being
 from
 an
 upper
 class
 household.
 The
 subject’s

class
 standing
 was
 fairly
 equally
 represented
 with
 the
 exception
 of
 “super
 senior”

only
 making
 up
 5%
 of
 the
 data
 (see
 Table
 1).